I just mentioned one in an earlier post - We have an example in Nicodemus who was a wealthy Pharisee and friend of Christ.
Susan, there is no place in scripture that tells us Nicodemus was a wealthy man, only that Nicodemus was a Pharisee, that he secretly believed Jesus teachings and that he helped bury Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew tells us Joseph a member of the Senhedrin was a rich man and had Jesus buried in a new tomb he apparently owned. The gospels don’t tell us anything about the virtues of Joseph, not even that he was a righteous man. So your argument here is very weak at best.
We have an example in Job who was wealthy but referred to before his ordeal as a “righteous” man.
This is the very best argument one can make about a wealthy man being righteous. HOWEVER, wealth in the time of Job was a measurement on how much livestock you owned, how filled your barns were with the harvested crop, and the size of your family. Job was an exception and not the rule. So in the light of you trying to justify the accumulation of wealth today to the detriment of the common good you really have no argument.
There is the example of the wealthy employer who was generous throughout the day with his workers, about which the Lord referenced his right to dispense his money as he saw fit…there are more. .
The word “generous” in association with this employer was his own opinion about himself and not God’s approval of how he treated the workers who worked all day long.
These are off the top of my head. You cannot argue that having wealth is a sin. It is inconsistent on its face with the ten commandments which presuppose the right to property. We have to look at Scripture as an organic whole. If you nitpick this verse against that verse you are missing the big picture. .
Well Susan it is you who are missing the bigger picture because you are trying to justify the economic philosophy of the GOP with scripture and your arguments are just plain nonsense. Although wealth itself is not a sin it is a temptation that most often leads people astray and down the road to perdition. Consider the words of the apostle Paul to Timothy:
*If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. *
Did you gear that Susan? The bible tells us to FLEE the pursuit of wealth because it causes people to WANDER FROM THE FAITH and that it is a TRAP that plunges people into RUIN AND DESTRUCTION. Moreover, the beginning of the passage tells us that the pursuit of wealth ROBS US OF THE TRUTH and corrupts our minds to in some form believe that godliness is a means to financial gain and that such a seduction further gives birth to an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind.
Jesus was approached by a very wealthy young man and who wanted to know what good thing he had to do in order to gain eternal life. The young man pointed out that he had always kept the commandments. Jesus told the young man to surrender all his wealth to those in need and then come follow HIM and he would have eternal life and treasures in heaven. But the young man was unwilling to make such an exchange and rejected Jesus offer. Jesus then turned to his disciples and explained that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
So while having wealth by itself is not evil, its influence on the heart and soul IS evil. Scripture teaches us that too much is given much more will be required. The wealth of the world belongs to God and the possessor of wealth is a steward of God’s property. The rich have been entrusted with riches in order to serve others. That is why Jesus told the rich young man to give all his wealth to the poor. He could not enter the Kingdom of God because the wealth God made him a steward of was meant to employ others. Because he did not do this people became poor and God demanded he give back the wealth to which it was intended.
The very same thing is true today. Ninety percent of this nations wealth is controlled by 10% of the population. That means the rich are stealing from the working class and the poor. Their wealth belongs to GOD who has entrusted them to employ others and pay them just wages and benefits.
The church teaches us that the rich have a duty to those who have needs and that they are required to practice the virtue of temperance and live modestly and not lavishly to the detriment of the common good.
In the Service of Christ and HIS Church,
David
